American consumers feel that Ford and Hyundai have made the biggest improvements in quality among all automakers over the last five years, according to the 2012 Perceived Quality Study from ALG, the company that sets car residual values for the auto industry.

Since 2008, Ford's received quality among consumers has jumped nearly 37 percent, while Hyundai's has improved by 25 percent, according to the study, which surveyed over 3,000 U.S. consumers to gauge their perception of quality among car brands. The improvements mean that Ford ranked fourth in perceived quality and Hyundai ranked eighth, above the average.

Among mainstream brands, Honda ranked first with a score of 81.3, with Toyota a close second with a score of 80.1, which had the biggest year-over-year perception improvement. Among luxury brands, Lexus scored highest for the second year in a row with a score of 85.4, followed by Mercedes-Benz at 82.9.